


Feel It In My Bones

by neverminetohold



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Romance, Slash, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 07:39:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18278771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverminetohold/pseuds/neverminetohold
Summary: Three life-changing moments in the life of Raven no one else noticed – except for Yuri Lowell, who featured in all of them.





	1. Through Your Chest Into Your Soul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Exile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Exile/gifts).



He sat hunched on the stone floor, legs crossed and hands on his knees. His focus was inward, ignoring his new cellmate and the guard retreating down the corridor beyond their cage of iron bars.

His eyes were closed tight and breathing harsh, the grief coiled around his ribs in an iron grip. If only he could become one with the darkness, let go of his memories, the pain, the regret, all the words unsaid, and cease to exist, die and see Casey smile again.

That warm, dimpled smile with the rarely shown impish edge to it. It could be aimed at him or another man, it didn't matter to him, as long as she was happy. She would have hated seeing him like this... No, she would have grabbed him, slapped some sense into him, but this was the best he could do.

Yes, removing himself from the cold logic of Alexei's plans was the only option. It was that or obey his every command. The small throwing knife Raven had hidden in a pouch sewn into his sleeve was covered by his palm, the metal by now warm to the touch despite the chill in the air.

The hated Hermes Blastia pulsed in his chest. Its rhythm always the same, unaffected by strain or emotions. It never sped up and never slowed, compelled to keep him alive against both nature and his will by complex equations that left no room for Damuron Atomais at all.

Not that Damuron Atomais mattered anymore, not when weighted against the usefulness of Schwann Oltorain and Raven, the right-hand man of Don Whitehorse.

His fingers curled around the blade, raised it - and lost it to the quick reflexes of the young man he had so far ignored. Much later, he would learn that his name was Yuri Lowell.

 


	2. The Opposite Of All Of My Mistakes

"Hey, ya didn't hear it from me, bub. The Dark Wings are goin' nuts lookin' for the hideout."

"You mean the thieves guild?" the young guard asked. His eyes were wide with rapt attention, the tip of his nose almost touching the iron bars. Raven lifted his head from the cushion of his crossed arms and winked at him. "Ahem!" The guard scowled and jerked back, his armor scraping against the stonework. "That's enough out of you. Almost meal time."

Raven smirked after him, watching as he moved out of his line of sight, until the echo of his heavy footsteps had faded to nothing in the distance. Finally, the two inmates of the castle's cells were alone.

A trace of nervousness made his stomach flutter. Considering the double life he led that seemed ironic. Everything had fallen into place, though. Flynn Scifo had been sent on his way and Her Highness Estellise had taken the opportunity to eavesdrop on the council that Raven had created for her.

And Yuri Lowell... well. Of course he would be sitting in the adjacent cell when the lower quarter inhabitants were threatened by Imperial neglect and a blastia thief. Raven had chosen him over Flynn to be the spanner in the works of Alexei's machinations... Based on personal experience, one might say.

Now all good old Raven had to do was drop a hint about Mordio - and a key.


	3. You Feel Like Home

Raven swallowed a sigh and dragged his tired old bones up another steep slope. The seldom used path wound its way up and through the mountain range. The wind dried the sweat on his brow and tugged at his clothes, like a small child eager to play.

His left knee twinged in protest as he slipped on a pebble. It skittered over the edge and into the abyss on his right with a string of hollow, echoing impacts. Raven looked up to the sky, brilliant blue with no cloud in sight, and pressed his lips together. Yuri had a high tolerance for his whining but he'd been toeing that line for over an hour now. _Best to shut up and take it like a man._

The crick in his neck was getting worse too but that ache he had earned last night while watching Yuri sleep like the old creep he got accused of being, so Raven had no regrets. - By the time he tore his eyes away from majestic view, Yuri had vanished.

"Oi! Don't you go leavin' old Raven behind!"

Yuri had in fact stopped to wait for him, was leaning against a lone tree, his backpack sitting by his feet, not out of breath at all. _Youth is such an unfair advantage to have - and totally wasted on the young._

"Look who's coming huffing and puffing over the hill," Yuri said with a grin. "Need a break?"

"Who, me?" Raven managed to stand straight instead of slumping. "I'll have ya know this spry old man can match your pace for hours without breakin' a sweat!"

"You sure don't look like it."

"Why are we doin' this anyway?"

There. The question had bothered him for two days now, ever since Yuri had shown up by his place and told Raven to pack light. Even more curious, Repede was off somewhere with Karol and Judith.

"I told you."

"Right, ya did. Another charity mission. Brave Vesperia, the famous guild that saved the world - rescuin' kittens out of trees."

Yuri shouldered his backpack and continued down the narrow path, setting a slower pace. "We're delivering medicine. And I didn't see you protest the last time we saved a kitten."

"That's 'cause her ears and tail may have been fake, but the most important parts weren't."

Yuri snorted. "Count yourself lucky that Rita isn't here."

"Believe me, I do," Raven said it with a delicate shudder. He was done being toasted on a regular basis by her, thank you very much. "But really, what are we doin' here all alone in the wilderness on this long shortcut of yours?"

"You were the one who wanted to spend more time together."

Raven stopped in his tracks. The last two days - quiet conversations around the campfire, Yuri cooking his favorite dishes, curling up together at night - clicked into place like puzzle pieces, leaving him with a feeling of contentment and happiness that was as overwhelming as a punch in the gut.

Casey's face flashed before his mind's eye, a reminder of past mistakes not to be repeated. The memory had ceased to hurt, and Raven knew exactly why and when and how, Yuri the answer every single time, against all the odds.

"You know I love ya, right?"

Yuri inched around a boulder that blocked their way, not even looking at him. "Let's not get sentimental, old man."

Raven scrambled after him. "Oi! I'm bein' serious here!"

"All this hassle and I have to spell it out for you?"

"Yes. I'm an obtuse old man, I can't be expect-"

"I love you."

"Aw – come here and give Raven a hug!"

He opened his arms wide but Yuri had gone straight back to ignoring him - but they both knew that wouldn't last. And Raven looked forward to every minute. As stupid and perfect as it sounded: life was good.


End file.
